Zombiefest

After grabbing our bikes we walked out the gate, and having made a complete scan of the area, we knew it would be safe to leave. The General actually saluted me as did his men, I returned the respect in a salute and smiled at him.

"You men should ask him sometime about how I found him in a fox hole sitting on a landmine." I called out and watched Jacksons eyes go wide.

"Oh no they will NOT, damn you Major, I have a reputation here!" he shouted back and everyone started laughing. We turned and climbed on the bikes.

"Wait!" a voice called out and I watched Torie come out walking fast. "Please may I come with you all?" she asked hopefully.

"We are not going to be your test subjects Dr. Arcana, if you come along you are just another survivor like the rest of us." I explained to her and she nodded quickly.

"Then climb on the camper and strap in." I told her and she followed Tami's instructions as she got in the seat.

"Going to need a bigger wagon at this rate.." I muttered and heard Jackson snickering.

"Going to take a while, so don't expect anything for a few years." I called out and he nodded slowly. He knew it could take years or may never happen.

Once we got rolling though we headed back towards Bend, the KOA Camp grounds would still make a good spot as a lay over for the evening and through the day. During the day though I would check around a bit, I wasn't kidding about the whole needing a better mode of transport.

The ride was uneventful, the raiders must have dragged every freaken zombie they could find when they tried to invade the Redmond Stronghold. They really didn't have a clue and it was amazing they had survived as long as they did.

"What are we doing here?" Torie asked as she looked around. She followed us inside the small mobile home.

"We stayed here on our way to Redmond, it's safe and not enough human scent to attract the wandering zombie." I explained to her and she nodded.

"I did some testing on the blood samples, while you and the General were talking." Torie said while helping to bring in a few supplies.

"And?" Maria asked while setting down the blankets on top of the mattresses still laying in the Livingroom. Torie was looking at the arrangement and shrugged a bit before she continued.

"While his blood can be introduced to others as a cure, the rest of your blood would kill the other person in hours. No idea why, but you are all capable of donating blood to each other, somehow in the change you all became universal blood donors to each other." Torie explained while setting out some food to be prepared.

"That makes it easier should anything really bad happen along the way." Charlie said while preparing soup and Tami set about making flat bread.

"Listen Doc, I know you want to be changed, like the rest. You show me that you can be a reliable member of this family and we can talk. But right now I, we, have to look at the future. I can't have people with suspect intensions out there using my blood for their own gains." I explained to her and she nodded before pulling out a blood vial and handed it to me.

"I left notes on your blood, but not your blood. When I realized just anyone could use it, I couldn't take that chance, not when we have no idea if this growth of strength and everything is finished or if you will continue to grow beyond this. We barely survived our own stupidity once and we are still paying for it with the zombies, we do not need a bunch of super men and women waging war on the rest of humanity as well." Torie explained and I took the vial from her and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, she's good.." Tami said while Maria and Charlie laughed softly.

"If you want it, it's yours, just know there will be pain and we are here for the next week while you change and heal." I explained to her and she nodded.

"Might want to eat first, hard to eat during the change, best you get is nibbling here and there." Tami piped up before Torie could inject herself. She put down the syringed and put the cover back on the needle.

"Thank you.." she whispered and ate her dinner. Afterwards she did inject herself and everyone helped her get through her first evening which was always the worst. It starts to die down slowly after that and during the day I went and found the local dealerships.

As it turns out Kenworth had been perfecting an electric truck that would have been used primarily for lot drivers to park trailers and trucks with day cabs for local deliveries. I grabbed up all the information I could find on the trucks with regards to their specifications. Then after charging up the truck, drove it to a commercial electronics store and spent several hours loading up the trailer with everything from solar panels to long range walkie talkies that came with solar charging bases. Then returned to the campgrounds, while Tami took care of Torie. Maria and Charlie helped me to understand everything and began rewiring the truck to accept the solar cells powering.

I will admit it took time, hell none of us were electronics nerds, we were flying by the seat of our pants here. But we finally got it up and running and thankfully the charging process did not take long when the batteries went dry. When I took it though I knew we would be grabbing a second one, one for hauling a trailer for supplies and things we found that would help to secure a permanent home and for trade as well when the time came. And the second would be hauling a traveling resident.

"Why are we grabbing a second truck?" Charlie asked while she and Tami followed me. I pointed at the over sized fifth wheel trailer.

"To haul that, it'll be our home on the road while we look for a place that is more permanent." I explained to her and they both smiled.

"Wait here while I check to make sure some salesman hasn't been turned into a zombie and got stuck in there, or someone else hasn't already claimed it for their own." I said quickly and ran over to the trailer. The door was unlocked and it swung open. Nothing growled or called out a warning so I moved inside. It still had the smell of a new trailer within it. No one had been inside it, ever, I was guessing. I checked everything though just to be sure, last thing I wanted was a zombie or stow away in some closet or the latrine. It even has a toilet and a shower system. I found the keys to the doors inside a drawer and locked it up.

"Well we now have our home on the road, lets charge up that truck and we'll hook it up." I said as I reached the girls who grinned at me. It didn't take long to charge up the truck and hook up the trailer. Then I put Charlie behind the wheel and taught her to drive while we drove back to the campgrounds.

Torie was in her forth day of the change now and I was neck deep in wiring while Maria and Charlie set up solar panels over the top of the new home on the road. The supplies trailer was added to so that on top was an infrastructure that allowed people to stand on top of the trailer and above them were the solar panels that charged up the truck. At night or during the day, people could ride inside the trailer, or on top depending on if there was room inside the trailer.

With the second trailer, I had to make modifications so it was strictly for the panels and nothing else. There was a small area at the back so a lookout could keep track of the area, and a walk way that allowed someone to make repairs if needed on the solar panels, but beyond that, no one should be on the roof of the trailer. A mesh screen had also been placed over the panels, it would allow sun light through, but stop large objects from hitting the panels.

The trucks were finally finished and Torie was well rested and had started to run with everyone at night. Now that we were all set, we swung back by the electronics warehouse and loaded up the supplies trailer. We grabbed everything, including two electric forklifts and chargers for them, never know what we'll need is how I figured it.

"Lets settle down for a few hours and then we'll head out." I told them and they nodded in agreement. We had the bikes and small trailers up on the supplies trailer and all of our food and toiletries along with clothes and bedding inside the house trailer. Tami and Charlie had the back bed area which seemed fair as they are a couple. I dropped the table and made it into a double bed for Torie and Maria to share and then took a bunk bed for myself. It was also the size of a queen that hung over the fifth wheel area. The narrow bunk beds along the long hallway were converted into mini closets where clothing and personal effects were stored for everyone.

"Come on Charlie, lets get this show on the road." I said to her as I shook her gently awake. We both ran for an hour before jumping into the trucks. I drove the truck pulling the house trailer, Charlie was too nervous about pulling a trailer where her family was sleeping peacefully. I could understand so I put her in the truck pulling the supplies trailer.

The trucks themselves were never meant to travel outside the City limits and because most Cities do not travel more then forty to fifty miles per hour in the commercial districts, the trucks top speed was fifty. We felt it safer in the long run to just maintain them at forty five so we were good. We followed 97 South until we hit 31 which would take us off the main highways and head down towards California and Nevada. I kept thinking about the weather conditions and what would be the easiest places to defend if it came down to it.

I had also made sure we had secured tools as well in case we had a break down. And finding the abandoned Snap-On truck did not hurt us either. We shoved two rolling chests filled with tools into the supplies trailer and then secured them in place. We had barely been rolling down Highway 31 when I saw Charlie slowing down quickly.

"Have a problem here, the engine just shut off." she said through the radio. I spun around and drove back. Wasn't like anyone would mind we were blocking the road. I put Tami up on the House trailer to keep watch on the area. Then I crawled under the truck and started the arduous task of finding a needle in a haystack. Two and a half hours later and I found a wire had come loose. Once tightening it in place and checking the wires around it, I sighed to myself while hoping it was the only problem.

"Okay try it now." I called up while looking at the motor to see if there could be other trouble. The Truck suddenly lurched forward and I felt the bones break as it ran me over. I could hear screaming as Tami watched the truck run over my body and Charlie panicking as she tried to stop the run away. She had not set the brake or taken it out of gear when it had stopped on her and I didn't think to ask.

"ohgod,ohgod,ohgod.. I am so sorry.." Charlie sobbed as I laid there on the ground. I felt them lift me and carry me into the house trailer. Then I blacked out as they reset the first broken bone, yep the pain was that bad.

I woke up slowly and looked around. I must have made a noise because Tami was suddenly by my side. She laid a hand on my shoulder to stop me from getting up and smiled at me.

"When you blacked out we thought we would loose you. But then Torie did some tests and realized your body had shut down to some degree in order to heal you at a faster rate." Tami said as she smiled.

"What happened?" I asked her and she handed me a drink, which I sipped at gratefully.

"Well the truck ran you over, more then a dozen bones broken. Torie had to reset many of them, the others remained in place so were not a problem. You passed out and you have been out for the last week. We moved the trucks down to a small place called Silverlake and waited it out with you." Tami explained while the rest came around and Torie started to look me over.

"So how are you feeling, Major?" Torie asked as she sat back looking at me. The fact was I felt fine, in fact better then ever.

"Feeling very good." I said and stood up from Charlie and Tami's bed. Tami seemed pretty excited and showed me what they had done while waiting for me to heal. They had found several panels used to create a temporary corral for cattle and horses. They had parked the trucks side by side but with room between them and used the panels to block off each end and even went so far as to weld hinges on the bumpers to secure the panels to the trucks and the trailers as she had done the same to the bumpers on the trailers too.

Under the trailers she had attached small panels that once parked could be dropped so nothing could crawl under the trailer as well. The panels had thick sheets of Plexiglas attached to them to keep the runners from somehow climbing over them.

"That is some work Charlie Girl, well done." I called out and she smiled even while blushing.

"Wait, what is going on?" Maria asked as she walked up to me, she was staring at my eyes.

"What?" I asked and everyone began moving towards me, "Okay now you are all freaking me out." I muttered.

"Your eyes are glowing even through the glasses." Maria said softly while reaching up and lightly touching my skin around the glasses.

"I dunno, maybe still healing, who knows. So did you all find out anything about this place?" I asked them.

"Well it use to be a Ranching and Farming community, my guess is, they ran for it when the Virus broke out. They could be holed up in their homes, we never bothered to check because out here, it's shoot first and mourn later if you're wrong and even that last part might be a falsehood. These folks aren't going to trust anyone or anything." Charlie said while looking out towards a distant house or barn, it had to be at least two to three miles away.

"Okay so we continue on, I personally would rather not be located on a highway anyways if we can help it." I explained and they nodded in agreement. After eating and a two hour run at which point they said I had run more then double the speed that I usually did, we took down the panels, secured them and continued down the road. I did make a quick check on those same wires under my own truck and secured them as well.

We took our time and checked out the area's as we drove through, some were quite beautiful and even the high desert was enjoyable. Along the way we came across several dogs as well and brought them along, they seemed quite happy to be with us. Everyone is getting along well and the trip would seem much like a family outing except for the Zombie's we would find now and then outside the panels.

We landed once again in Sparks, pulled the trucks into the garage and pushed a few vehicles around them so they would be hidden from the casual passerby. We took supplies up to the penthouse that the girls and I had stayed in while at the Nugget. It didn't appear anyone had braved staying there sense we had left, so we stayed and relaxed while taking in the surroundings.

"You know if we stayed here, the Old MGM Hotel and Casino would make the best spot. Put up walls around it and include the parking and campground area as well. Then put in a huge steel gate at the main entrance. The walls would have structuring that would allow for someone to be concealed and yet capable of seeing anyone at the foot of the wall." I explained while I considered it carefully.

"The Old Casino was built back when Reno had not even stretched out that far yet. So it is fully off the grid, completely self reliant when it comes to water, power and sewage." I explained to them as they listened. "We can get power set up using solar panels and wind turbines."

"That will take some time." Maria stated and I nodded.

"But the fact is we have time. What else are we going to do, keep wandering?" I asked her and she laughed softly.

"We'll rip up some of the ground in the parking area and from the River we'll have water for crops. Off to the East the large feed lots have several acres set up for cattle and I dunno about you, but the smell is telling me that most if not all of those animals are still very much alive." I stated and they laughed in agreement.

"We can check on them and move them to another pasture so they can continue to graze. We'll separate any who have already been set a side as meat animals." I added and shrugged a bit. It helped that I was born and raised on a ranch, then joined the Marines at 18.

"The Casino, once up and running, can also house the medical facility. We'll raid every hospital and clinic we can find to get Torie the equipment she needs in order to do proper research on this Virus." I continued saying as I considered what we could do with such a large place.

"So when do we start?" Tami asked.

"Well we start by insuring the cattle will continue to thrive." I said and then leaned forward a bit, "Then we find someplace safe to store everything we are currently carrying in the supply truck and trailer. We'll head down past Vegas, there are huge flat area's that are covered in solar panels and equipment. We'll make a few trips back and forth and start setting them up so when we do fire it up, that building will be fully functional."

After talking about other plans as well, everyone went for a two hour run and then off to bed. I woke up later as Maria climbed into the bed with me, after a couple of hours of enjoying each other we fell a sleep. Only we woke up later when Torie joined us and we stayed up even longer while the three of us took our time enjoying the intimacies of each other as well.

I woke up with them on either side of me, I could not believe we had done that, but at the same time felt right about it too and wasn't exactly sure why. Normally I am a one woman man, had been all my life during any relationship. And here I am feeling very happy with what had happened and no guilt over it at all. At the same time though I knew this would happen, for some reason I knew this family needed to come together and this was part of that process.

"I can't believe we did that.." Torie said quietly and I leaned down and kissed her lips. She returned it with a soft moan of pleasure. As we parted Maria leaned up and she and I kissed as well.

"I can't believe it either, but I would not change at thing." Maria whispered as she looked at Torie and smiled.

"The Cure in my system not only drives me to protect you and everyone who has it, but also moves us in this way too, sort of like needing us to be a family in some way." I said quietly and they both just seem to think about it.

"Well I am not complaining." Maria said and suddenly pulled Torie into a kiss of their own. Torie responded by returning the kiss and the three of us holding each other.

"About time.." Charlie said from the door way. She walked across the floor and sat with Tami on the bed.

"I was starting to wonder if you three would ever get together." Charlie admitted and smiled. As I listened I found myself looking at Tami and I knew what I had to do.

"As of today I declare Tami as my daughter, mine to love as my own, to protect as my own." I said and she smiled at me with tears brimming her eyes. She launched herself at me and I hugged her tight.

"I love you so much.." she said and paused a moment before adding, "Daddy.." I smiled as the feeling inside swelled. Then she let go and blushed brightly.

"I better move before this turns into an incest thing.." she muttered and scurried back while everyone giggled and chuckled softly. Afterwards we all got up and rode bikes around the area's that were less traveled by zombies. We found several things that would help further our goals after we moved the cattle from one area into another that held much more food for them to enjoy.

The Airport appeared to have gotten cleaned out, it looked like it had been a final stand and it failed. From what I could tell by the scene it appeared the military and zombies had killed each other down to the last opponent on each side and they ended up killing each other off before the soldier pulled the gun on herself and blew her own brains out after being bitten several times.